Gen. James Cartwright, JCS vice chairman, speaking at the Space and Missile Conference (see above), said it’s time to abandon the 50-year-old premise that “one-size-fits-all” in our approach to nuclear deterrence, leading the Pentagon to search for “synergies” between the Ballistic Missile Defense Review and the Nuclear Posture Review. In his remarks at the event, Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency, assured attendees that the Pentagon is “not enhancing our regional missile defense at the expense of our strategic defense,” reports The Huntsville Times. However, the newspaper also noted that Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.) questioned whether the budget had driven recent policy decisions and whether five years from now we would regret not developing certain weapons technology in favor of bailing out the auto industry. He said, “The defense of the United States is going to be expensive.” (Includes AFPS report)
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.